Fear In The Darkness
by happyday girl
Summary: Thorin, Fili and Kili go scouting one night, leaving everyone behind. They expected dead-ends, rain, maybe a foe or two...but what they did not expect to encounter was a fierce water monster with a penchant for Dwarf flesh. Hurt and protective family members, please read and review!


**Hello! I have another little fic for you! This is another one which involves the Durin Family, enjoy….**

They left the other dwarves at sunset. As the leader of their company, and the two youngest out of the group, Thorin thought it wise if he and his nephews scouted ahead every now and again, just to gain their bearing and sort out any dead-ends, so the rest of the group didn't have to turn away if they suddenly found their way barred. That would make the journey ten times slower, in his opinion. Before he went, he tiptoed to the Wizard. Gandalf was dozing next to the fire, the Hobbit curled next to him, snoring lightly.

Thorin snorted under his breath. _This isn't a holiday_, he said to himself. He gingerly poked Gandalf, stepping back as he opened both eyes at once, scarily alert.

'What's happened?' he barked, sitting up straighter.

'Nothing! Nothing.' Thorin reassured him. 'Fili, Kili and I are going to scout ahead tonight- we'll take the left track through the forest, following the river; we'll try and be back by morning. If we're not- head that way.' He pointed to the darkened clearing in the trees.

Gandalf nodded tersely. 'Fine, try and get back though- these dwarves won't get far without their leader.'

'Of course they will- you need to give them more credit!' Thorin snapped, harsher than he would have liked. He turned on his heel and walked off, leaving his nephews in his wake.

'We will be back, we always are.' Kili smiled, nodding at the Wizard as Gandalf settled down, muttering under his breath.

After nodding their goodbyes, the brothers left, taking the left path- Thorin had already started walking into the night.

'What's wrong with him?' Kili asked his older brother. Fili squinted to see him; the forest was that dark.

'Who knows?' he shrugged, one hand on his sword. 'Let's just do this properly- no jokes, no fun. We don't want to wind him up…'

'No fun? Are you mad?' Kili said, and Fili could almost hear the smile dancing on his face. He sighed inwardly, a grin on his own face.

'Well, let's just tone it down a bit, eh?'

'Are you two just going to walk and speak tonight? You need to start concentrating- this isn't for fun anymore; this is serious!' Thorin barked from next to them.

Kili only just stopped himself from yelping in fright. 'Don't do that!' he growled, hand on his heart.

'Stop mucking around and move, will you?' their uncle snapped, pushing them both in the back.

'Before I cut off your legs and leave you to rot….' He muttered, before chuckling lightly.

'Now Uncle, that wouldn't be very nice!' Fili grinned, though they all picked up their pace, walking along in a tense, listening silence.

* * *

An hour or so later, they reached a swollen gorge connected to the main river. The moonlight sent beams onto the surface, a light wind sending leaves cascading onto the water, the ripples dancing silently. Kili would have stopped and stared, if only the body of water didn't block their route.

'Dead end.' Fili stated, crossing his arms. There would be no way any of the others could cross this.

'Nonsense, we'll get by over there- look, there's a submerged path.' Thorin argued, pointing to the right side of the gorge. Sure enough, a rocky path was there, half submerged in water.

'Will it go down by morning? Not sure the burglar could walk through that.' Kili mused, frowning.

'To hell with the Burglar, someone will just have to carry him….' Thorin snapped, before he walked ahead, sighing.

Fili and Kili exchanged glances. 'How are we going to get across?' Fili asked.

'Look, I'm not standing around for the path to dry up- let's just walk through the shallower water, it'll be much quicker.' Fili piped up, shouldering his bow and striding to the bank.

'I'm not coming in to rescue you if you fall, you know?' Fili smiled, watching as his younger brother put a tentative step into the cold water.

'Oh really? I'll hold you to it….' Kili replied, grinning. He looked up at his uncle. 'You coming?'

Thorin looked at the gorge, then back to his nephew. 'If I have to….' He muttered, before walking down to join Kili at the water's edge.

Fili threw up his hands. 'I'm surrounded by idiots…' he muttered to himself. It seemed ludicrous that they should get cold and wet, purely because two of them were too stubborn to wait for the river level to decrease. Nevertheless, he couldn't just wait on the edge and watch them do it- he would never live it down.

He joined the two of them, watching the water silently rippling in the wind. The white smoke from their mouths entwined into a waft rising into the air.

'Well, isn't this romantic?' Kili said, looking round at his uncle and brother, a wide smile on his face.

'Shut up!' came the joint reply.

'Come on, morning will soon be on us if we just stay here- we've not even made twenty miles tonight!' Thorin snapped, splashing into the water, leaving Kili and Fili at the bank.

'After you.' Fili motioned. He liked to be at his brother's back at all times- better that way if anything was to happen.

'Thank you, kind sir!' Kili beamed, oblivious. He splashed into the river, although they all kept silent.

The gorge was wider and deeper than they had thought.

Pretty soon they were all at waist height, the cold water lapping at their coats.

'Whose idea was this?' Thorin growled, eyes dark as he looked back at his nephews.

'Um, well….' Kili scrabbled, until he yelped as Fili splashed water up his back. 'What was that for?!'

Before Fili could answer the water to their left moved; a definite indent in the water's surface- A bird took flight, cawing.

The three of them stopped dead, eyes swivelling in the darkness.

'I don't like this…' Fili whispered.

'Make for the bank.' Thorin said, turning and pushing Kili in front of him. 'Go! Shoot whatever it is if they come out of the water!' he ordered, before he and Fili ploughed after him.

The opposite bank seemed to get further away as Kili ran. In his panic he lost his footing; he plunged into the icy water, completely submerging into the freezing river.

He jumped up, hair flicking onto his face as he drew in huge breaths. He felt a strong hand grab his arm and haul him the rest of the way. Thorin's face came into blurry view. 'Alright? Keep going!' he shouted, pushing him forwards.

'THORIN!' a yell from behind made them both turn. Fili was stood a little behind, eyes wide and hand pointing to the deep water. The river was now definitely moving; something was beneath the water's surface.

Suddenly, the creature reared its head, a deafening screech making them wince. 'UNGOLIANT!' Thorin yelled, 'GET OUT OF THE WATER!' Fili and Kili jumped as if shocked; Fili grabbed his brother and pushed him forwards, sword already out and ready.

The menacing water-beast surged forwards, inhuman screeches bellowing from its many -toothed mouth. Tentacles stretched from under the water, flicking cold water onto the dwarves' faces.

Kili chanced a look behind him, teeth chattering from the cold. They were nearly at the bank, a view he was eternally grateful for. The beast seemed to have moved back- it didn't seem to be attacking them. Maybe it had decided to let them pass?

They reached the bank together. Thorin scrambled up, his wet feet slipping on thick mud. He bent and reached a hand out. Fili pushed his brother forwards, putting his hands on his back and pushing him onto the back.

Seconds after Kili was safe, Fili went under.

'FILI!' Thorin yelled, but the water was deathly still. Kili fell to his knees, looking into the water, eyes wide and desperate. 'Where is he?' he shouted, heart in his mouth.

'I don't know….' Thorin breathed. Suddenly, the water in the middle of the gorge burst as though a boulder had been thrown into it.

A large, leathery blue tentacle sprang forth. Fili was in its grasp.

'FILI!' Kili yelled, bow and arrow ready in his hands. He stood as close to the water's edge as he dared, fixing the arrow with shaking hands.

Fili yelled wildly, and Thorin was almost proud to see the flashing of his sword as he swung it at the monster.

'Hang on!' Kili yelled, before loosing an arrow into the tentacle. The creature gave a high pitched scream and threw the dwarf forwards, back into the water, with a splash.

Kili abandoned his weapons and jumped into the river, swimming as fast as he could to his brother.

'Quickly….' He muttered, holding his big brother in strong arms and pushing him forwards, where Thorin was waiting.

'No, you go!' Fili snapped, so together they swam to the bank, where Thorin helped them scramble up to dry land.

They sprawled onto their backs, breathing hard.

'What should we do with the beast?' Kili finally asked, looking up at their uncle as they sat up.

'Leave it- I'm not going back for it.' Thorin muttered, looking back at the water.

'Come on, it's almost dawn already- Gandalf will be waiting for us.' He said, putting his sword away back in the belt on his hip.

'That must be the best idea you've had all night!' Fili grinned, helping his brother to his feet as they slipped on the mud.

Thorin shook his head, muttering to himself. 'I'm not going back across that river though- we're finding an alternative route, even if it takes us the rest of the night!' with that, he strode off, again leaving Kili and Fili to walk on behind.

Kili nudged his older brother, who was starting to shiver. 'Hey, guess what?'

'What?'

'You know you said that you'd be the one to rescue me?' Fili sighed- he knew what was coming next.

'Yeah?' he played along.

'Well- I ended up rescuing you, you little damsel in distress!' Kili grinned, before laughing.

'Shut up!' his brother chuckled, digging him in the side. 'Lets get back to the fire- I need to warm up.'

'Race you?'

'You know I'll win.'

'Come on, you know I'll make you eat your words twice!' Kili laughed, before taking off into the night.

'Idiot….' Fii sighed, before he hitched up his sword and ran, chuckling to himself, after his little brother.

**I hope you enjoyed this, I just can't keep away!**

**A little side note… I named the creature in this story 'Ungoliant' even though I know its wrong- that creature is reportedly the mother of Shelob from LOTR; the only water creature name I could find was the 'Watcher in the Water,' which was the beast from FOTR. I wanted it to have a wrong Tolkein name, rather than a made-up one ^^**

**Please review!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**X **


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